“The government isn’t inspecting the mines, and the mining companies know it,” said Glenda Ferris, a longtime advocate for environmentally safe mining in British Columbia

The BC Ministry of Environment said it had issued five warnings to Imperial Metals recently

Why compliance was not enforced?

“You know, it’s all about money,” Xat’sull (Soda Creek) First Nation Chief Bev Sellars told the Vancouver Observer. She said the provincial government appeared to have let companies go on many violations and breaches in recent years. “The bottom line is, how much money can the mines make? How much money can they donate to political parties?”

Imperial Metals has contributed $167,550 to both the BC Liberals and the NDP since 2005 (mostly to the BC Liberals), according to Elections BC records